Headache and dizziness - should I be concerned

[lowwall]

38 mins and 35 mins, to 18m

Highly unlikely to be a nitrogen bubble issue then. I'm not a doctor, but if you are still dizzy, it could be an inner ear issue. Have you talked to DAN?

 

[charlottegarrett]

Highly unlikely to be a nitrogen bubble issue then. I'm not a doctor, but if you are still dizzy, it could be an inner ear issue. Have you talked to DAN?

Not yet, I think I’ll be fine and overthinking it a lot. But definitely will if not better or get worse

 

[crofrog]

Not yet, I think I’ll be fine and overthinking it a lot. But definitely will if not better or get worse

Pretty low likelihood of it being DCS at that depth for those times. Air or nitrox?

 

[chillyinCanada]

How are you feeling now, Charlotte?

Are you still feeling dizzy?

Do you only feel the dizziness in your room or also when out and about?

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hello,

New here so sorry if I’ve posted this in the wrong place. I’m also new ish to diving, and completed my 11th dive yesterday. Apologies again, as a bit of a long post. We did two dives and did a 3 minute safety stop on ascent for both.

I was feeling quite stressed about using new equipment, being in a rush and having different units of measurement on my hired gear (bar to psi, metres to feet). I didn’t feel confident and shouldn’t have gone on the second dive. My regulator was blocked and didn’t come right till just before I jumped in; we didn’t do safety checks, I was fumbling with my BCD and different locations for inflate and deflate. In the rush I hadn’t even correctly clipped on my BCD and my tank was sitting in a funny position. Mask and fins didn’t fit correctly, you get the picture….the second dive did go better but think the damage mentally and physically was done.

I came up feeling ok, after the second dive at around 1:30pm, but by the early evening I started to feel off. Symptoms were a lot of fatigue, feeling a bit dizzy and a bit of chest tightness. I also had a headache. I attributed all of this to being anxious and assumed I was imagining symptoms.

I woke up feeling not much better, very uncomfortably tired, my shoulders and back and legs felt sore like I had done an intense workout. I assumed, although I’ve not felt like this before after diving, that it was from the stress of the dive, being tired beforehand and maybe being a bit overweighted.

Day two and I still have the headaches and slight dizziness. The dizziness is worse in the apartment I’m staying in (29th floor). I imagine the headache is probably connected to the jaw pain I have from clenching the whole time, I didn’t realised how stressed I was underwater but I guess I was probably also hyperventilating a bit. I remember at one point feeling like it was labour intensive to breathe, and I just wanted the the dive to be over.

I feel like I can brush off all of my symptoms to anxiety or stress, but wondering if I should be more concerned. The most problematic symptom at the moment is the slight dizzy feeling like the floor is moving slightly, and the headache. I’m supposed to be flying home not tomorrow but the next day.

Sorry for the long post, I’m considering calling DAN for peace of mind. My brain has drifted into all the worst places on the internet (DCS) but was just wondering if others experience the same.

You could attribute all of this to anxiety, or there could be an element of barotrauma here as well. If you're reading this and still feeling that way, I'd recommend you see a medical professional soonest.

Ditto @lowwall w/r to taking your time and not feeling rushed, and kudos to you for recognizing opportunities for next time. New divers (and some old ones) sometimes perceive this pressure to "measure up" or not have people look down on them. Safe diving involves doing only what you're comfortable with and not feeling forced into accelerating your safety checks. You're recognizing this, so you're already most of the way there. FWIW, unfamiliar units on diving gauges are a precursor to accidents. I would recommend you avoid that in the future. Hope you're feeling better.

Best regards,
DDM